Okung will be starting tackle from ‘day one, hour one’

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Russell Okung will be installed immediately as the starting left tackle by the Seahawks. (Photo courtesy of Oklahoma State University)

Alex Gibbs is known as a crusty veteran who doesn’t like to talk much with the media, but the Seahawks offensive line coach couldn’t stop gushing Thursday about the addition of Russell Okung with Seattle’s first-round draft pick.

“There’s some things that are raw and things he’ll struggle with because he’s young,” said Gibbs. “We’re going to throw him right in. He’ll be our starting left tackle, Day One, Hour One. And we’ll live with him through whatever the pain is.”

Gibbs figures that pain will be mitigated by the drive and talent of a youngster who he labeled “a can’t-miss” along with Oklahoma’s Trent Williams, who went two spots earlier to Washington.

“It was obvious he was one of the top, top players in this draft,” said Gibbs. “He and Trent Williams both went very quickly. We’d have loved to have either one of them.”

As for Okung?

“First of all, he has tremendously long arms and tall stature,” said Gibbs. “He’s nasty and football is his life. He’s so committed to what he wants to do, he doesn’t have a lot of fanfare. He doesn’t have a lot of sideviews. He doesn’t have a lot of contingencies. He’s football.

“That’s the most important thing in his life and he’s a committed young player, which is rare in today’s world to get them where they come out and it’s everything they want to be. We’ve got a guy who is going to come early, stay late and aspires to be outstanding.”

Gibbs said the free-agent signing of veteran guard Ben Hamilton was a necessary element of adding a rookie left tackle.

Hamilton will play left guard, alongside Okung, just as he did with the Broncos two years ago when they picked Boise State’s Ryan Clady with the 12th pick.

“Ben just went through this with Clady, who is a great young player,” said Gibbs. “You can’t throw someone out there without someone to guide them. We need a player who had done that and knew this system and could help him make this transfer.

“That’s what Ben is for. Ben will line up inside of him and guide him daily through this whole process. He’s coach one and I’m coach two and that’s why he’s here.”

While Jones hasn’t officially announced his retirement, the Seahawks clearly are moving on.

“He’s going to fit good and he’s going to be Walter’s replacement, obviously,” Gibbs said. “That’s why he was picked. It didn’t happen a year ago and people were very aware of it … and we’ve made sure it’s dealt with as quickly as possible.”

Gibbs said it’s been a good week with the addition of Hamilton and now Okung to the left side of his line.

“I’ve got two piece of the puzzle,” he said, “and I’ve only got a couple more things I’ve got to get done to get to where we can go back to being what they were three, four, five years ago.

“It was a tightly knit group that understood each other, that communicated, and they lost that. We’ve got to get it back and, trust me, we’re hard at work, getting that done by the minute.”